Changes

|term_start=January 1, 1966​

|term_start=January 1, 1966​

|term_end=December 31, 1973​

|term_end=December 31, 1973​

|preceded=Robert F. Wagner, Jr.]​

|preceded=Robert Ferdinand Wagner, Jr.​

|succeeded=Abraham Beame​

|succeeded=Abraham Beame​

|office2=[[U.S. Representative]] for [[New York]]'s<br> 17th congressional district<br> (Upper West Side, Lower East Side,<br> and Greenwich Village)​

|office2=[[U.S. Representative]] for [[New York]]'s<br> 17th congressional district<br> (Upper West Side, Lower East Side,<br> and Greenwich Village)​

in [[World War II]]}}

in [[World War II]]}}

​

​

'''John Vliet Lindsay, Sr.''' (November 24, 1921 &ndash;  December 19, 2000), was an [[United States|American]] [[attorney]], [[politician]], and broacaster who served two-terms as the [[mayor]] of [[New York City]] from 1966 to 1974.  

'''John Vliet Lindsay, Sr.''' (November 24, 1921 &ndash;  December 19, 2000), was an [[United States|American]] [[attorney]], [[politician]], and broacaster who served two-terms as the [[mayor]] of [[New York City]] from 1966 to 1974. Considered perhaps the most [[liberal]] of any [[Republican Party|Republican]] in the nation, Lindsay was elected mayor in 1965. He defeated two more [[conservative]] opponents, [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[U.S. Representative]] Mario Procccacino and the ''[[National Review]]'' publisher [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]], the nominee of the New York Conservative Party, a breakaway from the GOP. When he lost the Republican nomination in 1969 to conservative state Senator John Joseph Marchi (1921-2009) of [[Staten Island]], Lindsay temporarily switched to the banner of the New York Liberal Party to win the [[general election]]. By 1971, he had switched parties again to contest the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination to challenge the reelection of [[Richard M. Nixon]]. He was eliminated early in the contest, and the nomination went to the liberal [[U.S. Senator]] [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]], who won only [[Massachusetts]] and the [[District of Columbia]].

 

Born on West End Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen section of the [[Manhattan]] borough, Lindsay was a son of George Nelson Lindsay, an investment banker and lawyer, and the former Florence Eleanor Vliet, hence his middle name. Lindsay attended exclusive private schools: the Buckley School in New York City, St. Paul's School in [[Concord]], [[New Hampshire]], and then [[Yale University]] and Yale Law School in New Haven, [[Connecticut]], from which he received his law degree in 1948. He joined the New York firm of Webster & Sheffield, of which he was later made a partner.​​<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/nyregion/john-v-lindsay-mayor-and-maverick-dies-at-79.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=John V. Lindsay, Mayor and Maverick, Dies at 79|author=Robert D. McFadden|date= December 21, 2000|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|page=A1|accessdate=May 23, 2020}}</ref>  

Born on West End Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen section of the [[Manhattan]] borough, Lindsay was a son of George Nelson Lindsay, an investment banker and lawyer, and the former Florence Eleanor Vliet, hence his middle name. Lindsay attended exclusive private schools: the Buckley School in New York City, St. Paul's School in [[Concord]], [[New Hampshire]], and then [[Yale University]] and Yale Law School in New Haven, [[Connecticut]], from which he received his law degree in 1948. He joined the New York firm of Webster & Sheffield, of which he was later made a partner.​​<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/nyregion/john-v-lindsay-mayor-and-maverick-dies-at-79.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=John V. Lindsay, Mayor and Maverick, Dies at 79|author=Robert D. McFadden|date= December 21, 2000|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|page=A1|accessdate=May 23, 2020}}</ref>  

In 1943, he joined the [[United States Navy]], in which he obtained the rank of lieutenant. He participated in the Pacific Theater of Operations and in the invasion of [[Sicily]]. He earned five battle stars. In 1949, when admitted to the bar, he married the former Mary Anne Harrison (1926-2004), whom he had met at the wedding of Nancy Walker Bush Ellis, a sister of later [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]. He was a groomsman and she a bridesmaid. A distant relative of Presidents [[William Henry Harrison]] and [[Benjamin Harrison]], she graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Mary was considered to be essential to the workings of her husband's administration. The couple had three daughters and a son, John, Jr. (born 1960), who was sentenced to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to attempting to sell [[cocaine]] to an undercover police officer. The arrest was part of a large-scale [[narcotics]] investigation in Suffolk County, New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/01/nyregion/the-city-john-v-lindsay-jr-is-given-6-months.html|title=The City: John V. Lindsay, Jr., Is Given 6 Months|date=October 1, 1983|publisher=''The New York Times''|accessdate=May 24, 2020}}</ref>

In 1943, he joined the [[United States Navy]], in which he obtained the rank of lieutenant. He participated in the Pacific Theater of Operations and in the invasion of [[Sicily]]. He earned five battle stars. In 1949, when admitted to the bar, he married the former Mary Anne Harrison (1926-2004), whom he had met at the wedding of Nancy Walker Bush Ellis, a sister of later [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]. He was a groomsman and she a bridesmaid. A distant relative of Presidents [[William Henry Harrison]] and [[Benjamin Harrison]], she graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Mary was considered to be essential to the workings of her husband's administration. The couple had three daughters and a son, John, Jr. (born 1960), who was sentenced to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to attempting to sell [[cocaine]] to an undercover police officer. The arrest was part of a large-scale [[narcotics]] investigation in Suffolk County, New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/01/nyregion/the-city-john-v-lindsay-jr-is-given-6-months.html|title=The City: John V. Lindsay, Jr., Is Given 6 Months|date=October 1, 1983|publisher=''The New York Times''|accessdate=May 24, 2020}}</ref>

In 1967, Lindsay was appointed by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to serve on the Kerner Commission, which investigated the widespread racial unrest and looting in the middle 1960s. The commission report blamed "white racism" as the cause of the civil unrest. Throughout his career, Lindsay was a staunch advocate of [[civil rights]] legislation. The Lindsay administration faced a devastating blizzard in 1969 and strikes by sanitation workers, teachers, and transit personnel. Still, he won reelection by plurality in 1969 despite having lost the Republican nomination to Marchi. Though allied with many [[Moderate Republicans]] and liberal Republicans, such as [[Governor]] [[Nelson Rockefeller]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Jacob Javits]], Lindsay surprised observers when he switched to the Democratic Party with more than two years left in his second term as mayor.  

In 1967, Mayor Lindsay was appointed by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to serve on the Kerner Commission, which investigated the widespread racial unrest and looting in the middle 1960s. The commission report blamed "white racism" as the cause of the civil unrest. Throughout his career, Lindsay was a staunch advocate of [[civil rights]] legislation. The Lindsay administration faced a devastating blizzard in 1969 and strikes by sanitation workers, teachers, and transit personnel. Still, he won reelection by plurality in 1969 despite having lost the Republican nomination to John Marchi. Though allied with many [[Moderate Republicans]] and liberal Republicans, such as [[Governor]] [[Nelson Rockefeller]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Jacob Javits]], Lindsay surprised observers when he switched to the Democratic Party with more than two years left in his second term as mayor.  

In 1980, Lindsay tried for a political comeback by seeking the Democratic senatorial nomination but lost out to fellow liberal U.S. Representative Elizabeth Holtzman. In the Republican primary, Senator Javits lost re-nomination to  [[Al D'Amato]], a more conservative Republican and the last person to have served as a Republican senator from New York State. D'Amato defeated Holtzman in the general election, 45 to 44 percent, while Javits continued his campaign and polled 11 percent as the nominee of the Liberal Party, which in past years had been particularly partial to Lindsay. In that same election [[Ronald Reagan]] carried the New York electoral vote and easily unseated President [[Jimmy Carter]].  

In 1980, Lindsay tried for a political comeback by seeking the Democratic senatorial nomination but lost out to fellow liberal U.S. Representative Elizabeth Holtzman. In the Republican primary, Senator Javits lost re-nomination to  [[Al D'Amato]], a more conservative Republican and the last person to have served as a Republican senator from New York State. D'Amato defeated Holtzman in the general election, 45 to 44 percent, while Javits continued his campaign and polled 11 percent as the nominee of the Liberal Party, which in past years had been particularly partial to Lindsay. In that same election [[Ronald Reagan]] carried the New York electoral vote and easily unseated President [[Jimmy Carter]].  

During his time in politics, Lindsay was also a regular guest host of [[ABC]]'s ''Good Morning America.''   

During his time in politics, Lindsay was also a regular guest host of [[ABC]]'s ''Good Morning America.''  He died at the age of seventy-nine of [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[pneumonia]] at Hilton Head Island, [[South Carolina]]. His medical bills wiped out much of the family's savings.​ Mrs. Lindsay followed him in death four years later. Named in his honor is an East River park and the Wildcat Academy Charter School.

 

Lindsay died at the age of seventy-nine of [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[pneumonia]] at Hilton Head Island, [[South Carolina]]. His medical bills wiped out much of the family's savings.​ Mrs. Lindsay followed him in death four years later. Named in his honor is an East River park and the Wildcat Academy Charter School.

==References==

==References==